Background Information

Daniel Lanois had started work with U2 during the production of “The Unforgettable Fire”. An incredible musician in his own right, Lanois took a step back from production duties in 1989, and between production of Dylan’s “Oh Mercy” and the Neville Brothers “Yellow Moon”, Lanois created his own solo album. Released in September 1989, “Acadie” is the album Lanois wrote and performed and produced in New Orleans at his own studio.

Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen perform on two tracks on this album, “Still Water” and “Jolie Louise”. The drum and bass for both tracks were recorded with Paul Barrett at STS Studios in Dublin, and mixed in with Lanois’ recorded portions at a later date. “Still Water” was partially inspired by the time Lanois spent in Dublin working with U2, and he recounts looking into the black waters of the Liffey on his walk back from the studio to his hotel, the Gresham while working on “The Joshua Tree”. It recalled memories of Grand River, running through the town of Caledonia near to where Lanois grew up in Canada.

From the original liner notes of the album Lanois discusses “Still Water”: This song was written in New Orleans. Initial recording was done with myself and Malcolm Burn playing guitars. Tony Hall overdubbed a sketch bass and I did sketch drums. In England, Brian eno recorded the haunting background vocals. Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton recorded their parts soon after that in Dublin. It was later finished and mixed in New Orleans. The final version is made up of four mixes done on four different dates and then edited together.” Lanois also describes the recording of “Jolie Louise”: “This song came together quickly. The idea had been in my head for a while but the construction of it happened in two days. The initial recording was done with Malcolm on piano, me singing and knee slapping and Mark at the console. Later in Hamilton, at Grant Ave. Studio, Ed Roth played accordian. Adam and Larry did their parts in Dublin with Paul Barrett recording. We mixed it in New Orleans.”

The album was re-released in 2005 with a different cover image. It would also be re-released in 2008, subtitled “The Goldtop Edition”. This edition featured a different cover, and added several bonus tracks at the end of the recording. Demo recordings of “Still Water” and “Jolie Louise” were both included in the bonus tracks, however both versions are without the contributions of Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton. The demo of “Jolie Louise” was even labelled “Before Dublin”.

“Acadie” was named the 20th greatest Canadian album of all time in Bob Mersereau’s 2007 book The Top 100 Canadian Albums.

“Still Water” was released as a promotional single. “Jolie Louise” was released as a single in Germany, and “Still Water” was featured on the release of “The Maker” in Germany. “Jolie Louise” was also featured on the soundtrack of the television show “Northern Exposure”.